Prior Art
Specially designed surgical drapes for draping the limbs of patients have been in use for some time. U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,268 discloses a surgical drape for use in orthopaedic and related surgery which is a sheet with a slit in the sheet to fit aroung the limb of a patient. The drape contains a flap which can be used to completely surround the limb of the patient after the limb is inserted through the drape.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,185 also discloses a surgical drape for use in orthopaedic procedures. The drape is a split sheet with one or two flaps which may be used to totally surround the limb of the patient extending through the drape.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,381 discloses a surgical drape which can be formed into a split sheet by cutting the drape from one edge of the drape towards the center.
These prior art surgical drapes, although they were effective in draping a patient, required some mechanism to secure the drape in the proper position around the patient's limbs. This could be towel clamps or other clamps which are commonly used in surgical procedures to secure drapes in place. Another technique for securing drapes in position is the use of adhesive strips which can be used directly on the surface of two adjacent drapes to secure the drapes together.
The above-mentioned drapes all had limitations in that the use of towel clamps or clips had a tendency to perforate the drape, which would allow liquids present in the operating room to penetrate the drape and possibly contaminate the patient. The use of adhesive strips, although overcoming the problems of the clamps or clips, were inadequate to hold the drape in place because the adhesive would not securely bond to the fibrous surface of the drape.